Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Turnabout Thief
by jameskparry
Summary: Phoenix Wright is enjoying his Sunday but when he receives a phone call from detective, Dick Gumshoe. Phoenix rushes to the hospital to find Maya in an induced coma. Without his best friend at his side he must uncover the truth about the break-in that lead to Maya's possibly fatal injury and the many twists he is forced to overcome.
1. Not a Sunday to Forget

**Episode One: Turnabout Weekend - Part One: Not a Sunday to Forget**

There is an alleyway, abandoned and forgotten, heavily littered and never ventured down. The only life found down there is the occasional raccoon or homeless man with nowhere else to go. But on the night of November the 20th if you were passing at around 11:30 pm you'd set your eyes on a sorry sight; a man, cut and bruised sitting atop of an old rubbish bin muttering, face in hands. If you dared to approach the man you'd hear the repeated line "It's not my fault. It's not my fault.", as he cried into his blood soaked hands.

**Phoenix Wright's Apartment  
November 21****st****, 08:27 am **

Phoenix Wright lay in bed with the sun streaming in from his apartment window. These were the moments he enjoyed the most, the moments away from the crime, murder, the mystery and the many, many _Objections_ shouted across the courtroom, just at home, relaxing. He lay there for a few minutes as he basked in the warmth of the sun until he decided it was time for breakfast. Phoenix stumbled out of his bedroom into his living room as he made his way towards his small kitchen which hardly lived up to the name. It was more of a corner of the living room with a couple of counters, a sink, an oven, a fridge and half a dozen pots and pans. His apartment was small but with the help of Maya's interior design skill and her slight O.C.D it was presentable. (And thank god for that; Phoenix spent many late nights working on cases he didn't have time to clean his apartment)  
He pulled a frying pan out of the cabinet perched above the counter, cracked a few eggs and began making himself a Sunday morning omelet – at least he planned to, but they never turned out right and would end up being dubbed a scrambled egg instead. While waiting for the egg to cook he brewed himself a nice cup of coffee. Just as he was scooting the egg onto a plate his mobile phone began to ring.  
The jingle otherwise known as the Steel Samurai theme song echoed through Phoenix's apartment. He turned the gas on the oven off, with his coffee in hand and hurried to the coffee table placed between his small yet comfy sofa and his rather expensive TV which he managed to pay for with the money from some recent cases. Phoenix sighed. If it was his way he wouldn't have the theme tune from a kids show as his ringtone but Maya changed it for him and he just never got around to changing it.  
He picked up his mobile, flipped it open and put it to his ear.  
"Hello? Phoenix Wright of, uhh" he stumbled on his words, "uh, Wright and Co. Law Agency. How may I help you?" he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.  
"Mr. Phoenix Wright?" a deep voice grumbled,  
"Yep that's me." Phoenix took a sip from his coffee,  
"I've got some bad news,"  
"Gumshoe? Is that you?"  
"Uh, yeah…" Dick Gumshoe mumbled in reply, "Look you might want to hear what I have to say, it's very important."  
"Oh, okay. What's the bad news?" This was followed by Gumshoe clearing his throat as if he had been crying mere moments ago.  
"It's Maya. She's in hospital."


	2. A Visitor

**Episode One: Turnabout Weekend – Part Two: A Visitor**

**UCLA Medical Center,  
21****st**** November, 09:17am**

Phoenix hurried to the receptionist's desk with his shoes laces untied, his shirt buttons misaligned and his trousers covered in creases as he hadn't had time to iron them.

"Hello. Welcome to UCLA Medical Center. How may I help you?" the short, blonde receptionist chimed as Phoenix stood, impatiently tapping his foot against the ground.  
"Uh, hi. I'm Phoenix Wright. I'm here to see Maya Fey." Phoenix replied.

The receptionist reached for her papers and shuffled them around, scanning the page with her pale blue eyes. Her face was suddenly struck with a frown, as soon as she appeared to have found what she was looking for.

"What is it? Is she okay?" Phoenix's voice faltered under the emotions driving through him. "Am I too late?" he thought to himself. To this the reception replied with a stifled giggle,  
"Don't worry. She's still alive. But I'm not allowed to tell you where she is, it's confidential due to the relation to a police investigation." She gave a smile, "You'll have to prove your identification to be granted access to her hospital room."  
"Oh, uhh. Let me just get my…" Phoenix's hand reached for his chest in hope to show off his Attorney Badge, only to find it wasn't there. He then began to frantically searching his pockets. To his dismay he was empty handed. He swore under his breath "I must of left my badge at home but I assure you, I am a lawyer and I have been called to Ms. Fey's hospital room by a.. uhh… very important detective, very high up in the business."

The receptionist hesitated, "Um, sorry. If you don't have any identification, I can't give you any information about the patient." She gave him a smile of condolence, "Sorry, hospital rules."

Phoenix sighed. How was he to visit Maya now? He felt like such a big idiot for forgetting his badge at home. He never left it at home, ever! He even carried it around when he was going out grocery shopping.

Phoenix was just about to leave the hospital to retrieve his badge when he felt a small vibration emitting from his pocket. He reached into his pocket and his hand clasped around his small mobile phone.

The words: _Gumshoe calling_were display in blocky text across the screen. He pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear.  
"Gumshoe?"  
"Phoenix Wright, where on earth are you? Maya is in a freaking coma and you don't even have the decency to hurry to the hospital." The detective bellowed down his mobile.  
"Sorry. I'm being held up at reception, they won't let me in. I need identification and I left my badge at home." Phoenix sighed.  
"Oh, okay. Well hand the phone to the receptionist. I'll talk to her, tell her your with me."  
"Oh, okay. Wait a sec" Phoenix handed the phone to the receptionist, "it's for you." He gave her a sarcastic smile. She took it from his hand and pressed it to her ear.  
"Uh… Hello?" she squeaked into the phone, "Umm... who is this?... Oh, sorry detective… Okay, I'll send him up now… Yes, Phoenix White or something… Okay. Sorry for wasting your time, Detective."  
The receptionist handed back the phone and Phoenix slipped it into his pocket.  
"She's in room 4A, go to the 4th floor, turn left. It should be the first door you see." She directed,  
"Thank you." Phoenix turned and hurriedly walked up the staircase, two steps at a time.

**Abandoned Warhouse,  
Somewhere in LA,  
21****st**** November, 9:30 am**

"Is it done? Have you got it?" a deep gruff voice said over his phone,  
"Y-Yes. But, umm, something m-might have gone… wrong…" the dark haired man, wearing the same bloodstained suit as yesterday bumbled, on his phone.  
"WHAT? HOW?" the hooded man now filled with rage screamed at him.  
"Ummm. Please d-don't k-k-kill me but… she woke up… and caught me." the suited man whimpered.  
"Urgh. You continue to disappoint. Who woke up?"  
"Umm, Maya Fey, sir." The suited man began to tear up.  
"And?" the deep voiced man interrogated.  
"I, well, I had to dispose of her. I killed her." This was followed by a foreboding silence on the phone line.  
"Killed her?" the deep voiced man broke the silence, followed by a series of _tutting_. "Oh dear, Clarence. You are more trouble then you are worth."  
The phone line went dead.


	3. A Deal with the Devil

**Episode One: Turnabout Weekend – Part Three: A Deal with the Devil**

**UCLA Medical Center,  
21****st**** November, 09:58 am**

Phoenix Wright sat on a plastic stool in the dim lit hospital room by Maya, lying in a hospital bed with half a dozen tubes sticking out of her nose and arms. He wasn't usually one you would see crying but on this occasion he couldn't hold it back. Series of tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Maya," he whispered, "Please wake up. Please!"  
Gumshoe reached out from his position behind his chair and patted him on the back.  
"It'll be okay, she'll wake up…" Gumshoe cooed in hope of restoring Phoenix's spirit, "…hopefully." he then uttered under his breath. Phoenix ignored Gumshoe and continued begging Maya to wake up.

It was only now that Phoenix really appreciated everything about Maya; her personality, her tendency to stay positive and strong through hard situations, how excitable she was, and just how pretty she was. Phoenix began to feel an emotion he never associated with Maya before and he couldn't quite put his finger on it (and even if he could he didn't want to accept what it was). The way he looked at Maya completely changed that miserable Sunday. He decided that when; no _if _she woke up from her perhaps fatal slumber he would pull her into a hug, stare into her intricately-patterned brown eyes and just embrace her consciousness. He felt an odd tingly feeling in his stomach. It was then he realized that he would do anything for Maya; to reveal the one who did this to her, to lock them up behind bars and finally to hear Maya say the name he loved to hear, a name that brought with it a presence of someone he held so dearly; _Nick_.

**Somewhere in LA,  
21****st**** November 10:13 am**

The dark haired man sat in his small, messy apartment scrawling a note. His place was no more that the size of an average child's bedroom as it was all he could afford. The ground was littered with vast amounts of food packaging, old laundry and crumbs.

He finished writing the note and placed it inside a small plastic bag which he locked and the walked over to his window. He opened the window and looked out onto the heavily littered street below him.

If he had the choice he wouldn't be living in which couldn't be sugarcoated any more than a dump. It was the part of town everyone avoided. Even the wild dogs who roamed the streets of LA felt uneasy. Walking through that block of buildings was the equivalent of walking through a crowd of vicious criminals, you never knew when someone was going to jump out at you, mug you or even kill you.

He sighed. At least he would have not having to see this every day to look forward to, because soon he was to die. He knew it and there was no way he could avoid it. He had no one to go to. Not even the police could help him.

The dark haired man then reached to a small table near the window and grabbed a roll of duct tape.  
"This should do the trick." He said to himself as he grabbed a 5 cm piece of tape, attached it to the plastic bag and stuck it to the cold damp brick wall below the outside of his window.

He hoped that this would stay there, just for 12 hours, just enough time to be found by someone and be used as a vital clue to work out the mystery of who killed Clarence Wilson.

**UCLA Medical Center,  
November 21****st****, 10:22 am**

"How is she, Doc?" Gumshoe asked, forcing a smile.  
"Ummm, it's hard to say. It could go either way from here. All I can say is the longer she is in this coma, the less likely she is to wake up." The white haired man replied. He looked around the age of 65 and wore an immaculate white coat with the words '_UCLA Medical Center'_ printed below what appeared to be the hospital's logo.

Gumshoe bit his lip, "Do we know anything about how she was… induced into this state?" Gumshoe cautiously picked his words, hoping not to upset Phoenix anymore.  
"Yes. It appears to be a blow to the head that caused this. If you look at the bruising it appears someone must have hit her with a blunt object around 4.5cm thick, something of a metallic property." After seeing Gumshoe's smile drop to a frown, the Doctor offered his condolence, "I'm sorry if this may upset you." A silence followed this.

"Good old lead pipe to the head strategy, eh?" Gumshoe joked in attempt to lighten the mood.  
"Hmm, it appears so." The Doctor muttered, clearly unamused, "Your _department_ called asking for you. They said they expect you back at the, uhh, department within 30 minutes."  
"Oh, thanks." Gumshoes miserably thanked the Doctor, who then left the room soon after.

Gumshoe let out a great sigh. "Not looking forward to that!" he complained, expecting some sort of reaction from Phoenix, still seated by Maya, now clasping her hand in his.

"Phoenix?" he called in attempt of grabbing his attention. No response.  
"Phoeeeniiiixxxx!" No response.  
"PHOENIX!" he barked. Phoenix jumped from his seat, startled.  
"Y-yes?" He spluttered.  
"You can't just sit here moping around. If you really love Maya –"  
"As a friend," Phoenix interrupted.  
"As a friend," Gumshoe corrected himself, "you've got to get off your butt and help with this investigation!"

"Uhhh, Detective? I think you're forgetting something." Phoenix snarled, "I'm a defense lawyer, not a prosecutor. If you guys" he placed emphasis on the 'if' "find our suspect then I will end up defending them, not serving them the justice they deserve."

Gumshoe flustered and his cheeks went bright red. "Ah, yes… forgot that…" he looked down at his feet in attempt to hide his embarrassment from his foolishness. He paused and then screamed so loud that the whole hospital could hear him.

"AHAAAAA!"  
"Woah. Careful on the eardrums." Phoenix commented,  
"I'VE GOT IT!" Gumshoe ignored his previous statement, "What if you were to help out the prosecution with all the detective work and all." Phoenix gave an unimpressed look at Gumshoe.

"Oh, c'mon! You're great at the detective stuff. You've won all 3 of your cases so far." Gumshoe begged.  
"Yes, but that was all with either Maya or Mia's help." Phoenix diminished his idea as being rather ludicrous.

"Exactly! You won't be doing all the detective work. You'll have us, the police on your side and our star prosecutor who has kindly agreed to take on this case once we find a suspect."  
"Star prosecutor? Oh no. Don't tell me you're talking about…" Phoenix droned.  
"Yes. That's right." Gumshoe nodded enthusiastically, "I'm talking about _Miles Edgeworth!"_


	4. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**Episode One: Turnabout Weekend – Part Four: A Series of Unfortunate Events**

**Criminal Affairs Department,  
21****st**** November, 10:30 am**

"So, this is my office!" Gumshoe spread his arms out, showing off to Phoenix.  
"Ah…" Phoenix, rather unimpressed said, "Lovely…"  
Phoenix looked out upon a rather dull-looking office lined with desks each with a computer, a stack of papers and a set of drawers. At the center-back of the room was the chief of the Homicide Division of the Criminal Affairs Department who appeared to be busy tapping at his keyboard.

"So, should I give you the tour?" Gumshoe chimed excitedly, like a child promised all the ice cream in the world.  
"Uhh," Phoenix hesitated, "Well, I'd rather you didn't. I want to expose the criminal as soon as possible"  
"Ah, okay," Gumshoe's smile dropped, "Fair enough", he walked down the middle of a row of desks and towards a glass door with a gleaming metal handle on the far side of the room. Phoenix followed close behind. Gumshoe pulled the door open.  
"Edgeworth is in here" he gestured with his head inside the room as he held open its door.  
"Thanks Gumshoe. I can take it from here." Phoenix said implying that he should leave. Gumshoe remained at the door, obviously unaware of this.  
"Gumshoe?" Phoenix was getting rather impatient.  
"What?" he barked.  
"You can take your leave now."  
"Ah right." He chuckled nervously and strode over to the left side of the room, out of Phoenix's sight.

Phoenix gave a deep sigh and turned and walked into the room. He found himself in a sort-of conference room with a large rectangular table placed in the centre of the room. Around the table were a dozen of chairs placed in equal distance from each other. The room was closed off by walls; all decorated with photos frames containing pictures of business men and certificates with the exception of the far side of the room which featured a large window with a great view of Los Angeles. At the table end adjacent to the window sat Phoenix's apparent rival and the court's 'Star Prosecutor". Phoenix took another step into the conference room and took a seat at the closest end.

"Mr. Wright, I appreciate your help." A deeply accented voice broke the silence.  
"It is the least I can do." Phoenix replied almost sarcastically as he stared across the table at his new partner, Miles Edgeworth.

Clarence strained his ears to confirm that he just heard what he thought he did. He sighed heavily.

"This is it," he mumbled to himself, "I am to die." He glanced at his wristwatch. It was quarter to 12. Any second now someone would kill him, there was no denying it. Clarence Balt was a dead man as soon as he made that mistake. He rubbed his head where he was hit with an alarm clock. He thought back on the previous day. It's funny how something as small as a bleep ringing almost silently could lead him to death...

**The Previous Night**

Clarence scaled the side of the apartment block. He was hanging from a rope attached to the top of the window which -until Clarence uncovered a few minutes ago - was concealed behind a large pipe serving as a drainage pipe for rain and such.

The building was pretty small and was in a not so great spot, but it would do for someone who spent most of their time at their office. He recalled the background research he'd done on his victim - or so to say. Maya Fey was a young woman, aged 17 working at a Wright and Co. Law Office. She worked as an assistant to the only other staff member, Phoenix Wright, an ace attorney - albeit still a rookie. She grew up in Kurain Village and learned to become a Spirit Medium. She had a history of crime as just a few months back she was accused of murder of her own sister, Mia Fey, Mr. Wright's mentor and a well-known defence attorney, but she was proved innocent by Mr. Wright.

According to Clarence's employer she had in her possession something desperately needed back, something he had lost. He didn't tell Clarence what it was yet but he was to text him a picture of the object once he was inside, once he has no escape. He had taken all the precautions such as making sure his phone was on silent and no one could see him from where he climbed up the building.

Clarence reached up and grabbed the window ledge above his head. He heard a small beeping noise, to which he paused and soon dismissing it as something of his imagination. According to the instructions he had even given this was it, third window from the right on the fourth floor. He climbed onto the ledge and looked into the room beyond the glass. He saw a dark bedroom decorated with flowers and bright fabrics. He had to admit, the girl had great design skills, albeit the small size of the room. In the centre of the room was a double bed lined with sheets rich in quality and on it lay a beautiful girl with dark hair who he assumed was Maya Fey. He picked the lock, while squatting on the edge, with a special metal object he'd been given by his employers. He struggled for a little while until he got the hang of it a moment later. He pulled the window up and detached himself from the rope. He climbed through the window onto a wooden dresser with a series of carefully organised objects laying on the surface. He climbed down the dresser, attempting to not make any noise, only knocking down a couple of the objects, not enough to wake Ms. Fey up. He took out his phone and sent a text message to his employer announcing his arrival. He nervously waited for a reply looking around the dark room.

Clarence looked down at the young girl. He sighed. What he was doing was illegal. He never thought it'd come to this, no matter how bad his financial situation got. He was deep in thought when it happened; aloud beep emitted from his pocked rang out in the small bedroom. Panicked, he reached for his phone and clicked the silent button into place but it was too late. When he received the message from his employer his phone bleeped, notifying Clarence that he had got a message. The pretty girl stirred and began to wake up, obviously used to late night calls because of her profession. 'Why did it ring?' Clarence thought, 'I put it on silent'. It struck him that on his scramble up the building that small beep he heard was him pocket dialling his phone. He must of accidentally turned silent mode off. He panicked as he desperately pondered what he should do.

Maya woke up from her light slumber to a loud bleep. She reckoned it was Nick alerting her of a new case. She sat up on her bed, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She reached to her bedside table, still rubbing her eyes and looked down at the small LED screen. She checked the notifications menu only to find the message displayed across the blocky screen "No new messages". She frowned wondering what made the loud beep.

Clarence froze. Maya was awake and checking her phone, obviously thinking it was her phone that made the sound. After a couple of seconds she placed her phone back on the bedside table, intending to go back to sleep when she glanced up toward the window, straight at Clarence.

Against the faint light from outside the window Maya could make out the silhouette of a man who was standing as if he had frozen mid-step. She screamed at the top of her lungs and raced for her bedroom door, grabbing the closest thing to her on her way out, her small alarm clock.

Clarence advanced on the poor young girl who was now exiting the room. While chasing her he grabbed a small heavy metallic object which fit right in his palm. He didn't come this far to be caught and arrested. He chased the girl into her living room towards the door that lead out into the apartment block hallway.

Maya desperately clawed at the door. She left her key that opened the door on top of the cupboard in the kitchen; there was no escape, she was trapped. She turned around to see a middle-aged man standing before her. He made a slow job of walking towards her, as if he were taunting her. In his hand were the small metal cube she found lying by her apartment block yesterday. She'd taken it because she thought it looked 'pretty' and now it was to be used as a weapon against her.

"Please, no. Don't!" Maya pleaded.

She began to make out the man's features. He had dark hair which was messy, obviously not combed in weeks. His face was rather soft and not too threatening. He looked panicked and worried. The man wore a black t-shirt and pants - rather casual clothes. He had a stocky build but he was quite skinny. Whoever this man was it was obvious he was not a wealthy man.

Maya chucked the alarm clock at him in attempt to delay him. It flew through the air and hit the man on the left of his forehead. He rubbed his head; obviously it hurt a bit, but that was not enough to stop the man.

The man took his last few steps towards Maya as he raised the metal cube above his head.

Clarence swung the cube down, connecting with Maya's head. In the last few seconds of her consciousness she stared at Clarence with a look that could not be replicated. In her eyes he could see terror, shock, desperateness and disappointment, like she was disappointed that this was the end, killed by some desperate man with nothing to live for.

Maya slumped to the floor.


End file.
